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Meet Your 2016 Tampa Yankees

April 7, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Tampa Yankees News Release


TAMPA, Fla. -- Happy New Year, baseball fans! America's pastime is back and the Tampa Yankees are excited to begin play on opening day when they visit the Lakeland Flying Tigers tonight at Henley Field. A new-look coaching staff looks to guide a 25-man roster that includes six of the top-30 Yankees prospects ranked by Baseball America.

Coaching Staff:

For the third-straight season, the Tampa Yankees welcome a new manager. Patrick Osborn, 35, may only be entering his third season in the Yankees organization, but the former Florida Gator brings a winning repertoire with him to Tampa. In 2015, Osborn managed short-season Single-A Staten Island to the New York Penn League Championship Series. Prior to that, "Ozzy" led the GCL Yankees 2 to a first-place finish in the Northeast Division (35-25) in 2014. To continue his playoff streak, Osborn will have to lead the T-Yanks into the postseason for their first trip since winning the 2010 FSL Championship.

Alongside Osborn will be pitching coach Tim Norton, who helped Single-A Charleston lead the Southern Atlantic League in strikeouts (1,161) and K/9.0IP (8.63) in 2015. Defensive coach Antonio Pacheco joins the T-Yanks after coaching the GCL Yankees 1 last season. Michel Hernandez will also coach defense with Tampa after serving the same role with Double-A Trenton in 2015. Hitting coach Tom Slater is the lone returner to the staff, beginning his eighth season with the Yankees organization.

Rotation:

RHP Vicente Campos, 23, (No. 20 Yankees Prospect/Baseball America) was limited to 11 starts (3-7, 7.05 ERA) with Tampa after returning from having "Tommy John" surgery in 2014. The righty showed promising signs, hitting the mid-90s with his fastball and showing excellent movement with his curveball.

21-year-old Ian Clarkin (1st RD (33rd overall)/2013) was shut down due to elbow inflammation but returned to pitch in the Arizona Fall League in 2015. After playing one game with Tampa in 2014, the Yankees No. 16 prospect (Baseball America) is ready for a full season of High-A baseball.

Chance Adams, 21, (5th RD/2015) was a star in the bullpen at Dallas Baptist last year, going 7-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 23 relief outings. In his professional debut, he combined to go 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA in 14 relief appearances with Staten Island, Charleston and Tampa. Now, the Yankees will try to convert the right-hander into a starter.

Righty Gabe Encinas, 24, (6th round/2010) returns to the Tampa rotation after leading the T-Yanks and ranking third in the FSL in strikeouts (116). Encinas has had a long road back from "Tommy John" surgery in 2013, but showed last year that he is fully healthy and ready to rise.

The highlight of the rotation is James Kaprielian. The right-hander left UCLA ranking fifth all-time in career ERA (2.06) and sixth all-time in career strikeouts (275) That impressed the Yankees enough for them to select him16th overall in the first round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft (New York's highest draft position since 1993). Considered to be on the fast track to The Show, Kaprielian received a spring training invite and now joins High-A Tampa after playing only seven games of short-season ball last season. That included a postseason performance with Staten Island where the 22-year-old posted an impressive 0.73 ERA (12.1IP, 7H, 1ER, 2BB, 10K) in two starts.

Bullpen:

A trio of 2015 RiverDogs deservingly rises to Single-A Advanced after impressive performances in Charleston. Right-hander Jordan Foley, 22, (5th RD/2014) ranked fourth in the SAL with a 9.92 K-per-9.0IP ratio and posted a 2.88 ERA in 17 starts. Righty Joey Maher, 23, (NDFA/2012) led all Yankees minor leaguers in ERA, going 7-5 with a 2.20 ERA in 27 games (18 starts). Right-hander Dillon McNamara, 24, (27th RD/2013) finished 4-0 with six saves in 38 relief appearances, posting a 3.38 ERA and holding left-handed batters to a .202 clip.

Injuries effected southpaws Jacob Lindgren and Dan Camarena in 2015. Both are now healthy and ready to get back on track.

Lindgren, 23, (2nd RD/2014) made his Major League debut on 5/25 and tallied seven relief appearances with New York before landing on the disabled list and undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur in his left elbow. The Yankees No. 14 prospect (Baseball America) is ready to begin his road back to New York. In 2014, Lindgren tossed seven scoreless relief innings in six games with Tampa before moving up.

Camarena, 23, (20th RD/2011) missed all of last season due to an elbow injury and having arthroscopic surgery. He returns to the T-Yanks for the first time since 2014, when he went 5-5 with a 2.35 ERA in 16 starts before earning a promotion to Double-A Trenton.

Right-hander Jonathan Holder, 22, (6th RD/2014) is back after going 7-5 with a 2.44 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) with the T-Yanks last season. The former Mississippi State closer proved he can pitch in any situation. After primarily being a starter last year, Holder now finds himself back in the bullpen along with his former college teammate, Lindgren.

Left-hander Caleb Frare and right-hander Matt Marsh return after receiving a taste of High-A ball in the Tampa bullpen last season. Frare, 22, (11th RD/2012) posted a 2.91 ERA in 37 relief outings between Charleston and Tampa. Marsh, 25, (NDFA/2014) went 3-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 19 games (eight starts) between Charleston and Tampa.

Catchers:

Neither Francisco Diaz nor Santiago Nessy played in the Yankees organization last season. However, both Venezuelan catchers have previously played in the Florida State League.

The Yankees signed Diaz to a minor league contract on 2/5/16 and invited him to spring training. Prior to that, Diaz played in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia farm systems. Last season, Diaz hit .353 in 26 games with High-A West Virginia. The 26-year-old played 10 games with the Bradenton Marauders in 2012 and two games with the Clearwater Threshers in 2009.

Nessy joined the Yankees and received a spring training invite after New York selected him in the third round of the Triple-A Phase of the Rule 5 Draft on 12/10/15. The 23-year-old was originally a Toronto farmhand before being traded to Kansas City in the 2014 offseason. Last year, Nessy split time between Double-A North West Arkansas and Single-A Wilmington and hit .220 in 66 games. In 2014, Nessy played in the FSL as a Dunedin Blue Jay and hit .211 in 25 games.

Infield:

The Dominican Republic is well represented in the Tampa Yankee infield, with Jorge Mateo at shortstop, Abiatal Avelino at second base and Miguel Andujar at third base.

At only 20-years-old, Mateo turned a lot of heads in 2015 after leading all of Minor League Baseball with 82 stolen bases. The No. 1 Yankees prospect (Baseball America) played his first 98 games with Charleston, hitting .268 before heading to Tampa on 8/5. The promotion did not faze Mateo. In fact, he improved. In 21 games with the T-Yanks, the shortstop hit .321 and scored 15 runs.

Holding his own on the base paths was Avelino, 21, (NDFA/2011), who swiped a respectable 54 bags for second among all Yankee minor leaguers. "Abi" hit .301 in his first 20 games with Charleston before earning the promotion to Tampa on 5/2 and batting .252 in 103 games. The Dominican Republic product is back with the T-Yanks to man second base.

Andujar, 21, spent all of 2015 with Tampa. His bat took a while to get going, producing a .212 batting average before the all-star break. After that, things got better for "Miggy." In his last 66 games, Andujar (NDFA/2011) hit .278 and finished the year leading the T-Yanks in hits (118) and doubles (24) and owned a15-game hitting streak in August. Eight home runs may not seem like a big season-total, but Andujar has power and showed it off when he won the FSL Home Run Derby last season.

Mike Ford, 23, (NDFA/2013) returns as the starting first baseman for the T-Yanks. The Ivy League product hit .260 with six homers and 55 RBI. Ford, 23, led the T-Yanks and ranked fourth in the FSL in walks (60).

The versatile Billy Fleming, 23, has played five different positions and has worn five different uniforms in two seasons within the New York farm system. Overall, Fleming (NDFA/2014) hit .338 in 62 games in 2015. Only seven of the games were with the T-Yanks, going 4-for-17 (.235) at the plate. A majority of his time was spent with Charleston, where he hit .330 in 26 games. The West Virginia product will back up Ford at first base.

Outfield:

Michael O'Neill, 23, (3rd round/2013) returns to the T-Yanks after hitting .213 with 4HR and 25RBI in 101 games in 2015. Paul's nephew did heat up in the end, receiving a FSL "Player of the Week" nod after hitting .471 in the last week of August.

Jake Skole, spent most of his 2015 season with Double-A Frisco before Texas traded him to New York. The 24-year-old is a former 1st round pick (15th overall) by the Rangers in 2010. After hitting .218 with Frisco, Skole batted .242 with 2HR and 16RBI in 50 games between Tampa and Double-A Trenton.

Former University of Texas standout Mark Payton, 21, (2nd RD/2014) is back with the T-Yanks due to a crowded Thunder outfield. The 5'7, 165 pound centerfielder combined to hit .267 with 6HR and 52RBI with Tampa (49 games) and Trenton (72 games).

New York drafted Austin Aune, 22, out of high school in 2012 (2nd RD) and the former quarterback pushed away his commitment to play football at Texas Christian University. Aune (pronounced AWE-knee) spent all of 2015 with Charleston, leading the club in hits (102), doubles (29), triples (10), home runs (8) and RBI (49).

Like Kaprielian and Adams, Zack Zehner was drafted just last year (18th RD/2015). Zehner (ZAY-ner) made his professional debut with short-season Single-A Staten Island and hit .232 with 5HR and 31RBI in 63 games. The 23-year-old played two seasons at Cal Poly before joining the Yankees.

Tampa opens the season with a four-game series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. RHP Vicente Campos (0-0, -.--) will get the start against rehabbing RHP Alex Wilson (0-0, -.-- ERA) tonight at 6:00 at Historic Henley Field in Lakeland.

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